Kilkenny IHC- Relief for ‘Shock as they secure safety

It’s the game no club wants to be involved in as Carrickshock and O’Loughlin Gaels met in a very tense Michael Lyng Motors Hyundai Intermediate Relegation Final on Sunday afternoon.

After an injury ravaged season Carrickshock just about held on to their status in the second tier of Kilkenny hurling as they saw off the city side’s second string team.

It was a hectic end to end affair that could have went either way in the end but helped by goals from Eoin Crowley, Kevin Farrell and Barry Lennon, it was Carrickshock that emerged as winners much to the relief of manager Richie Power.

Getting relegated is never easy for any club and O’Loughlins will be very disappointed as on another day they could have easily won this game as very little seperated the sides.

Eager to extend their stay at this level of hurling, Carrickshock were quickest out of the blocks and were 1-1 to 0-0 to the good after only two minutes of action.

An Eoghan O’Neill point from play was quickly followed up by a well worked Kevin Farrell goal which arrived after Jake O’Dwyer went on a storming run.

O’Loughlins weren’t down for long as a long delivery from Matthew Russell was opportunistically batted into the net by full forward Gary Kelly.

The sides then swapped scores to remain level at 1-3 each until the ‘Shock began to exert a bit of control on proceedings.

Six points on the bounce between the 12th and 17th minutes soon gave the winners a sizeable lead after scores from O’Neill, Kevin Farrell, Damien Walsh and Eoin Crowley.

O’Loughlins did at least finish the half the stronger and despite doing much of the hurling for much of the opening period, Carrickshock still only led by two points at the break after a trio of Sammy Johnston efforts and a Ryan Poyntz score from play left it very much all to play for.

The nervous feel of a relegation final then grew as the second half developed and Carrickshock were definitley getting a bit shaky as they only scored one point in the first 20 minutes upon the resumption.

A well taken Sean Moore point did initially give the Hugginstown outfit a three point buffer but three points on the bounce via Johnston and Kevin Murphy had the teams deadlocked before Johnston found the target once more to edge O’Loughlins in front.

It was desperation time for Carrickshock now, and they got a lucky break in the 50th minute when Eoin Crowley forced the ball to the net and despite complaints of a square ball, the goal was awarded.

O’Loughlins hit back with Johnston and sub Alex Sheridan and extra-time looked a big possibility.

Carrickshock had other ideas however with points from O’Neill and Damian Walsh added to by the game clinching goal from Barry Lennon.

The ‘Shock were still left sweating by the end as Kevin Murphy knocked in O’Loughlins second goal but unfortunatley for them time not only ran out in the game but at the intermediate grade too.

Carrickshock on the other hand were full of relief as they claimed a precious two point success.

Teams and Scorers

Carrickshock: Eoghan O’Neill (0-6, 0-3 frees), Kevin Farrell; Eoin Crowley (1-1 each), Barry Lennon (1-0), Jamie Power (0-2, 0-2 frees), Damian Walsh (0-2), Sean Moore (0-1)

O’Loughlin Gaels: Sammy Johnston (0-10, 0-6 frees), Kevin Murphy (1-1), Gary Kelly (1-0), Ryan Poyntz (0-2), Alex Sheridan (0-1)

Carrickshock: Dan Blanchfield; Eddie Dunphy, Niall Tennyson, Mikey Murphy; Sean Moore, John Power, Paidi Lennon; Damien Walsh, Jake O’Dwyer; Kevin Farrell, Eoghan O’Neill, Michael Rice; Jamie Power, Eoin Crowley, James Grace.

Subs: Kieran Conway for Farrell; 29 mins, Barry Lennon for J.Power; 42 mins, John Cahill for Murphy; 45 mins.

O’Loughlin Gaels: Declan Murphy; Ruaidhri Galwey, Barry Lawlor, Oisin Murphy; Finn Hogan, Jamie Young, Evan Walsh; Ben Leydon, Matthew Russell; Ryan Poyntz, Fergal Brennan, Conor Bergin; Sammy Johnston, Gary Kelly, Kevin Murphy.

Subs: Alex Sheridan for Brennan; 38 mins, Ronan Buckley for Bergin; 52 mins, John McNamara for Hogan 58 mins.

Referee: Eoin Maher (Mullinavat)